The Long Journey Home
by BlackHawkRider
Summary: Ziva David had wanted to abandon her past and move on with her future, but she just can't seem to shake her demons. Now her life is hanging in the balance once more, and the only people who can save her are the ones that she left behind. Eventual Tiva. Set up after her leave from the show. Probably a little AU-I am not current on the series past that point.
1. A Bloody Beginning

Ziva David had thought she had everything figured out when she returned to Israel. She thought leaving the States behind and returning to face her past would allow her to move on with her future. But she had been wrong, oh so wrong. At first she had been successful in slaying old demons, but then news one started to raise up until she was drowning in her own mind once more. Except now there was no one to help her, no one to be her solace when her thoughts became too much. She was alone, and it was no one's fault but her own.

It had been nearly a year since Tony had left her standing exactly where she was now. She had wanted to run after him, beg him to stay, but she couldn't do that to him. Not when she had so much baggage. Tony had started to grow up, he had become serious about things-about them-and she couldn't handle that then. She had been too unstable for him, too unreliable. She still was. But oh, she missed him so, along with the rest of her family. If she could just-

The breeze rustled the tree behind her and she snapped out of her thoughts, her hand dropping to her gun. She had tried to stop wearing it, to leave that part of her past behind, but she just couldn't do it. She looked around and sighed before wiggling her toes in the fresh dirt, inhaling deeply. This place had become special to her. She had stood here nearly a year ago today and told Tony to go home. It should have been a place of painful memories, but it was too beautiful. The olive trees were always swaying in the breeze, the dirt always smelled fresh, and there was always shade to be found. It reminded Ziva of home. Her old home.

"Miss David?" The voice was young. Ziva turned, hiding a frown as she found a young boy standing before her. She had no idea who he was, or where he had come from.

"Yes?" She asked wearily.

"I have a letter for you." He reached into his bag and produced an evelope. Ziva took it cautiously and frowned- it was not addressed in any form.

"Who gave this to you?" She looked back up at the young boy. He had a mop of brown hair and bright brown eyes.

"A man."

"Does this man have a name?"

"I do not know. He didn't say." The boy shrugged.

"Who are you then?"

"My name is Amari. I run errands for people in town. The man found me, asked me to deliver a letter. So here I am." The boy looked up at her.

"How do you know who I am? I do not think we have met."

"I know everyone around here." He smiled. "It is my job."

"I see. Well, I appreciate you delivering this." She forced a smile. "Do I owe you anything?"

"No ma'am. I must go!" He waved before turned on his heel, running off, his brown curls bobbing against his head.

Ziva waited until he was out of sight before pulling her gun, cautiously looking around. She looked at the envelope skeptically. It was unmarked, no name, no stamp. She slowly opened it and pulled a piece of paper out. A sense of dread settled over her as she unfolded the paper, the words blowing up in her head.

"We know where you are. We know where they are. We is our turn." Taped at the bottom of the picture of her team.

Ziva's heart started hammering in her chest and she felt as if she couldn't breath. Her team was being targeted again, and once more it was because of her. The shock gave way to anger and she went on the defensive, pulling her gun out and turning in a slow circle, her eyes scanning the trees. She felt as if she was being watched, as if a dark presence was closing in over her.

She kept her gun in one hand and pulled out her phone, calling the one person she knew she would answer. She could have called any of the team, but there was a good chance they would be asleep already. She knew he would still be up. She knew he would answer.

"Ziva?" He answered on the second ring, his voice full of concern.

"Gibbs!"

"What's up?"

"I am in trouble." She stated.

"What kind of trouble? Where are you?"

"I do not know. There was this letter-" A rustling behind her made her whip around, the phone falling to the ground. She fired a shot towards the source and one echoed hers.

"Ziva?" She heard Gibbs shout. "Ziva, talk to me!"

"I'm in Israel! They found me! They know where-" Another shot rang out and the phone shattered. "Damnit!" She swore and then stumbled as a third shot peirced her leg. She went down hard as he knee gave out, blood gushing from the wound. Another shot followed and she felt her shoulder muscles seperating as the bullet tore through flesh and bone.

Ziva lay on the ground gasping for air as she watched her own blood pool around her. The liquid seemed to endlessly pour from the hole below her knee and she felt herself going into shock. Her body would begin to shut down shortly and she would lose consciousness. Her times was running out.

With a grunt of pain she began scooting towards her gun, mixing dirt with blood until the ground was a sticky sickly mixture. The task was slow and tedious without a second leg to help push her along and she felt as if each second was an hour. The pain mounted and her vision began to blur as her body looked for a release. There was no more time. She had to get to her gun and defend herself.

In one final attempt she lurched forward and fell over, her hand landing just short of her gun. She stretched and was just able to reach the grip. A flood of relief coursed through her, temporarily blocking the pain, but it vanished as quickly as it came. A black combat boot kicked the gun away and a cruel laugh echoed above her.

"What a valiant effort." The man had a heavy accent that suggested he was from the area. Her eyes fought to look up and focus on his face. He had hard eyes and a deep set frown, like he was born angry. An old scar ran from his temple to his jaw, giving his face a divided expression. She had no idea who he was, yet he looked so familiar.

"Who are you?" She tried to sound angry, but the pain was evident in her voice.

"Wouldn't you like to know." He sneered. "You'll find out soon enough. We have much to /discuss/. You have caused my family much grief."

"To hell with your family." She shot back. "You shoot me so I am unable to fight, then stand over me like a coward. Pathetic."

"Such brave talk for a wounded lass." He laughed. "I had heard the stories, but I don't believe them. You are nothing more than a scared child. We will see just how strong you are as you watch the people you love die one by one!"

"If you touch them I will kill you!"

"I am shaking in my boots." He put his gun away and tried to lift her from the ground, only to have her lash out and land a blow to his eye. Blood began to run from the cut on his brow and he sneered at her. "You will pay for that."

"Try it again." She challenged, rising her chin defiantly. "I told you I-" Her speech was cut short and he whipped his pistol out and lashed at her head. For just a moment she felt unbelievable searing pain, then she knew no more.


	2. Wake Up Call

**Chapter 2! Not sure how I feel about this...keep? Delete and redo? Feedback would be appreciated l. Thank you for the reviews so far! I really appreciate them :)**

Gibbs' eyes studied the wood before him as he contemplated the various ways he could cut and use it. He needed a new project to work on, he just wasn't sure what he wanted to build yet. His time had been filled to the max lately, leaving him little time to spend down in the basement. He had been able to work on a few projects, but all had been small and taken very little time. Ever since Tony had returned from Israel things had been stressful. Their work load never lessened and then there was the stress of trying to find someone to fill Ziva's shoes; there had been a few good people, but no one seemed to click like she did.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he decided on something that would be a compromise between a big or small project: a dog house. Not that he or anyone he knew needed one, but it would be something new. He picked a pencil and ruler up and began crunching numbers in his head before marking various planks of wood to be marked. He was almost ready to start cutting when his phone began ringing. Part of him wanted to ignore it: his team had just gotten off 3 hours ago and it was early-3 a.m- and they didn't need the work load. But the other part knew he had to. He grabbed it on the second ring and immediately flipped it open as he read the caller I.D.

"Ziva?" Gibbs brain instantly went to protective mode. If she was calling him than there was something wrong.

"Gibbs." She sounded relieved as if she had been afraid that he wouldn't answer.

"What's up?" He wasted no time cutting to the chase. If there was a problem than it needed to be addressed.

"I am in trouble." She sounded scared and nervous, a strange sound for her. Something that he had only heard from her a few times.

"What kind of trouble? Where are you?" He frowned.

"I do not know. There was this letter-" The sound of wind wooshed in the receiver and then a thud. A sound he knew all too well echoed through the phone and his heart rate jumped.

"Ziva!" He shouted. "Ziva, talk to me!"

"I am in Israel! They found me! They know where-" Her voice sounded far away. He heard another shot, then the line went dead.

"Ziva? Ziva! Damnit!" Gibbs tossed the saw down on the table and punched in another number as he headed for the stairs. He flipped the lights off and shut the door as he entered his house, waiting for an answer.

"Boss, can't we let the dead wait until morning?" Tony asked groggily. Gibbs could tell he had woke the young man up and he couldn't help but feel bad for the team- most of them had probably just gotten to sleep.

"There are no dead. At least not yet."

"Kidnapping?" His voice was muffled as if he was talking into a pillow.

"Maybe. I'm not sure about all the details yet."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He was beginning to sound annoyed.

"It means exactly that. Get up and get over here. Call the others and tell them to meet here."

"Boss, what is going on?" Tony demanded.

"Ziva is in trouble."

.

.

.

Tony was sound asleep when his phone began to buzz on his nightstand, then ring. He groaned and pulled a pillow over his head, waiting for the ringing to stop. When it only ceased for a moment and began again he knew it could only be one of two people. He couldn't help but feel a bit hopeful as he grabbed his phone, but the feeling vanished as he saw the caller ID.

"Boss, can't we let the dead wait until morning?" He groaned and rolled over to press his face to the pillow. He had just managed to fall asleep an hour ago. Driving home and crawling into bed had been a herculean effort- he couldn't imagine getting up again on such short notice.

"There are no dead. At least not yet." Gibbs sounded concerned, which worried him.

"Kidnapping?" He asked partly into his pillow, partly into his phone.

"Maybe. I'm not sure about all the details yet." Tony could practically hear his frown.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He scowled. He was exhausted and wanted to sleep, but Gibbs was keeping him up and making no sense.

"It means exactly that. Get up and get over here. Call the others and tell them to meet here."

"Boss, what is going on?" He began to feel uneasy.

"Ziva is in trouble."

Tony's heart seemed to stop and his stomach did a flip. It had been a year since he had heard from Ziva. The last time they had talked had been when he went over to Israel to try to convince her to come back. It hadn't worked, not that he expected it to, but he had felt like he needed to try. Knowing that they were so close to having what they both dreamed about kept him up at night. If their pasts hadn't been so complicated than maybe things would be different. Maybe she would be here instead of in trouble several thousand miles away.

"What kind of trouble?" Tony finally managed.

"Not sure. Like I said, get the team together. I'll grab coffee and food "

"Right." Tony hung the cell up and stared at the wall for a moment, trying to make sense of things. He felt like he was stuck inside some kind of dream, watching himself from somewhere else. He was slow and dumb, like a cow in molasses. He blinked several times and shook his head before rolling out of bed and looking around the room.

"Think, DiNozzo." Tony chided himself. "Jeans. Shirt. Jacket. Keys. Call Probie." He rattled off a list as he absently went through the motions of getting dressed. Once he was dressed he grabbed his phone and dialed McGee's number as he grabbed his keys and headed out the door.

"What do you want Tony?" McGee answered, sounding distracted.

"I know that tone all too well Probie. You should be in bed, not fooling around."

"Sorry dad. I guess it is a little past my bed time." Mcgee replied sarcastically, then grunted

"Not while I am on the phone!"

"Sorry. Wait, no I'm not, you called me. What do you want Tony?"

"Boss wants us to meet up at his place." Tony was surprised to see that he had made it to his car- he had barely noticed that he was walking. He slid inside and blinked hard, trying to clear his head. "Like now."

'It is like three a.m!"

"Yeah, well, I hate to cut your play time short, but Ziva is in trouble."

"I'll get Abby." His tone changed instantly and Tony heard something thump. "We'll be there in 15."

Tony hung the phone up and tossed it into the passenger seat as he started the car and pulled out onto the street, his foot pressing down on the gas. He shot down the street going well over the speed limit, but he didn't care. Ziva was in trouble, again and just like last time he was going to go after her. He was going to save her. And he was going to bring her home with him.

.


End file.
